The verdict is in.Neither shall there be Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur - written on the public school calendar in Montgomery County, Maryland, that is.Muslims in Montgomery County have been petitioning the school board for years to add Eid (Eid-al-Adha in this case, since Eid-al-Fitr, which comes at the end of Ramadan, is currently in the summertime) to the school calendar. Finally, the school board voted 7-1 Tuesday not make Eid-al-Adha a student holiday but rather ... … [Read more...]

This is a guest post from Hesham Hassaballa, who will soon be joining the Patheos family as a columnist.My entire life has been an evolution of belief, opinion and thought. A big part of that has been my religious interpretation. My committment to my Islamic faith has never waivered. Indeed, I did have a crisis of faith during my university years, but my devotion to the Lord has never weakened. But, I have changed considerably over the past decade. In 2002, I penned a piece for Beliefnet … [Read more...]